


Everything’s Perfect

by wildingart



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Interpersonal Conflict, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:13:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26115487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildingart/pseuds/wildingart
Summary: Catra and Adora’s trauma responses don’t mesh well, but maybe they’ll be alright.Post-s5.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 99





	Everything’s Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> This is an #SPOPFight2020 attack on @cottagecorewlw on twitter by me, @wildingart. The prompt was “Catra healing from her abuse.” Adora and Catra are both so affected by the trauma in their childhoods... If they’re gonna be happy together they both need to process their stuff. But I know how hard that can be when your response to trauma is to pretend it didn’t happen. :”)

Late morning light shines through the open windows of Catra and Adora’s Bright Moon chambers. Adora sits up in their bed, a book rested against one leg and Catra curled against another. A cool, gentle breeze flows into the room and tousles their hair.

“Hey, Catra?” 

“Mmm?” she asks blearily. 

“I’m hungry.”

Catra snorts into her thigh. “When aren’t you?”

Adora playfully shoves at her arm. “Right after I eat, for one.” She closes her book and sets it down besides her, pulling her legs out from under the covers. “Come on, let’s go to the kitchen and see what they have.”

“But I’m so comfortable, we should just stay here...” Catra gripes, latching onto Adora’s calves. 

Adora chuckles as she plucks Catra’s hands off her legs. “Well, you can stay and I can bring some snacks back, if that’s what you want.”

That’s not what she wants. “Ugh, fine, I’ll come,” Catra mutters as she rolls herself off the bed and onto her feet. In the corner of their room, Melog rises from its pile of cushions and shakes its fur into place. 

Adora pulls a shirt on and raises an eyebrow when Catra stretches and doesn’t grab one for herself. 

“What? I’m decent,” Catra insists, motioning to her sports bra. 

Adora scoffs. “If you say so,” she says, opening the door and leading them out into the hallway. 

Along the way they come upon a pair of guards. Adora dips her head at them as they pass by, and Catra notes the displeased twist of a mouth, likely aimed at her state of relative undress. Melog steps in front of Adora and earns her admonishment by nearly tripping her. The guards chuckle to each other over its mischief and Catra allows herself to relax.

Once they’ve rounded a corner and are out of eyesight, she glances over at Adora and marginally increases her pace. After a moment, Adora matches it. Catra increases it again, and again, until they’re both speed-walking down Bright Moon’s opalescent halls. Adora smirks and shoves her before breaking into a full-out sprint. Cackling, Catra bounds forward on all fours, Melog beside her. 

Catra reaches the kitchen first and slips inside, slamming the door shut behind her. She’s laughing breathlessly, leaning against the wall when Adora opens the door with an indignant, “Hey!” Melog slides in behind Adora and emits a wounded trill. 

“Sorry, buddy,” says Catra. She reaches out and apologetically scratches behind its ear. “You know I had to win.” Melog purrs and nuzzles her hand. 

“Oh, hey guys!” Adora says cheerily. Catra and Melog both startle and turn to find Bow and Glimmer seated side by side at one of the tables set out for casual meals, a platter of snacks between them. 

Bow waves. “Hey Adora! Hey Catra, hey Melog.” Melog chirps merrily in response and moves to lay down by his feet. 

“Oh, hey,” says Catra. Something twists unhappily in the pit of her stomach. 

“I thought we’d see you soon,” Glimmer says, leaning back in her chair. “It was getting to be about that time.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” asks Adora, mock hurt in her voice. She reaches out to tousle Glimmer’s hair as she passes by but the Queen abruptly leans forward over the table to dodge her hand. 

“Oh, you know.” Glimmer puts on a dramatic air and waggles her fingers. “The great beast of Bright Moon rises from her den and stalks the halls, hungering for the succulent flesh of the recently deceased.”

“What, like cows? Eggplants?” Adora snorts. She turns in the doorway leading into the kitchen proper. “Catra, you coming?” 

Catra blinks. “Oh, uh. Yeah.” She forces herself out of the slightly defensive stance she’d fallen into and follows Adora into the kitchen. 

Adora greets the kitchen staff, ooh-ing over the dishes they’ve prepared for the day. They chuckle fondly at her enthusiasm as she piles food onto a plate. Catra grabs a plate for herself and takes a modest amount of food from a couple of the dishes Adora had chosen from. “Thanks,” she mutters, avoiding meeting anyone’s eyes. Even after several months of living in the castle, she expects that the majority of Bright Moon’s inhabitants still harbor at least some enmity for her. While no one has confronted her yet, she isn’t particularly jumping at the opportunity to test her luck. And if her inability to be as friendly as Adora isn’t warming her up to them, well... there isn’t much she can do about that, either. 

They return with their plates to the dining room, and Adora sits down opposite of Glimmer. Catra slides into the chair next to her and sets her plate down as well. Melog sidles over and lays its head in her lap, which she absentmindedly pets. 

“So, got any plans for today?” Adora asks through a mouthful of food. 

“Well, I have to see to my Queenly duties,” Glimmer waves her hand through the air with a sparkly flourish, “before I’m free for the day, but Bow and I were thinking of having a game night after that. You interested?”

“I’ve been working on some new board games with the Etherian Makers Community and I’m really psyched to try them out,” Bow says. 

“Well, you know I’m up for it,” responds Adora. “Catra?”

“Sounds great,” Catra mutters. 

Adora studies Catra’s face. “You’re in a mood. What happened? You were fine a while ago.” Catra feels the burn of Bow and Glimmer’s eyes on her. 

“Nothing happened, okay? I’m fine.” Melog’s tail thwacks once against a table leg. 

Adora shrugs coolly. “Well, if you say so,” she says, turning back to her plate. 

“Adora...” says Glimmer, shooting a concerned glance at Catra. 

“I said I’m fine, Sparkles. What don’t you get about that?” she snaps. Melog growls. 

Glimmer holds her hands up placatingly. “Ok, ok. Jeez...”

Catra glares at Bow, daring him to say anything. He raises his brows and turns his attention fully onto his croissant. 

A minute passes in uncomfortable silence, and Catra grows more agitated with every second of it. 

Then, Adora breaks the silence. “So, anyways, what’re the board-“

Catra stands from her chair so quickly that it falls over then runs out into the hallway. Her breaths are coming fast, so fast that her head feels light and she can barely see but she needs to find somewhere she can hide, somewhere safe, somewhere-

“Catra? What’s wrong with you?!”

Melog is suddenly there between her and Adora, growling. 

“What do you want?” she hisses, crouching lower to the ground. 

“Are you mad at me?” Adora asks, incredulous. 

“Yes, so leave me alone!” she screams, backing up a few steps before turning fully and breaking into a run. Before she can get far, she feels a hand catch her wrist. 

“Hold on, I didn’t do anything!” Catra yanks her hand out of Adora’s grasp and shoves her away. Adora regains her balance and steps towards her accusingly. “You’re the one who got all weird out of nowhere!” 

“Of course, because everything’s always my fault!” Tears prick at Catra’s eyes as she takes another step back and drops into a defensive stance, tail whipping back and forth. 

“Yeah, it kind of is!” 

Both of them jump as Glimmer appears beside Adora in a flash of sparkles. “Adora, you need to give Catra some space. Come on.” She grabs hold of Adora’s forearm. 

“Wait-“ Adora looks furious for a split second before they’re both gone, leaving nothing but a shower of motes in their wake. 

“Mrow?” Melog trills, head tilted. Catra collapses to the floor, stunned. She draws in a breath so deep she might have been drowning. It tears back out of her chest as a long, miserable wail. Melog meows, then wraps itself around her as she sobs. 

* * *

The sun’s rays have traced a path down from the walls and onto Catra’s body by the time she’s cried herself to exhaustion. Her ear flicks as it picks up the sound of Glimmer teleporting nearby. She hears her footsteps approach and pulls her knees closer, burying her face further into her arms. The footsteps stop a respectful distance away. 

“Hey...” Glimmer’s voice is quiet, gentle.

Catra doesn’t respond. 

“Bow and I talked to Adora. I’m sorry she pushed you like that. It took a while to get her to understand that she did something wrong.” Catra hears her lower herself onto the ground. “Sometimes she can be really, really stubborn. It’s kind of annoying.”

Catra snorts. After a moment, she lifts her head just enough to look at Glimmer over her forearm. She’s seated on the floor and offers Catra a small smile when she meets her eyes. The tip of her tail flicks, and Melog shifts onto its side and purrs. 

“She’s in her room if you want to talk to her,” Glimmer sighs. “She’s a lot calmer now, too.”

Catra doesn’t move. Glimmer waits a minute then pushes herself up to leave. 

“Thanks,” Catra says, voice muffled by her arm. Glimmer turns to her. “For helping me...”

Glimmer smiles sadly. “Any time, Catra. I’ve got your back.” She waves once and teleports away. 

Catra sighs and gets to her feet. “C’mon, Melog. Let’s go apologize.” 

* * *

Catra stands in front of the door to her and Adora’s shared quarters, shifting her weight from foot to foot. She wants to work on this, she insists to herself— she’s done running away. Why should she have to keep suffering? They can finally be happy together... She reaches out to take the handle but freezes before making contact. Her tail flicks back and forth. What _is_ she doing? She’s going in to _apologize_? For what? _Adora_ was the one who-

She growls under her breath and pulls the door open. 

She finds Adora pacing inside their room. Adora sees her and immediately reaches for her. “Catra, I-“ 

“No. Shut up.” Adora steps back, shocked. Catra huffs. “I have something to say.” She glares at Adora until she backs up and sits on the edge of their bed. Catra closes her eyes, takes a deep breath. Melog nudges its head against her hand and she looks at it appreciatively before turning back to Adora. “I don’t like the way you treated me.”

“I know, I-“ Catra holds her hand up and stares, stony faced. Adora shuts her mouth. 

“I’m sorry I freaked out,” Catra says carefully, “but that doesn’t mean it was okay for you to put all the blame on me, or to act like I was upset for no reason.” Catra holds onto her arm and looks to the side. “It really hurt.”

Adora waits for Catra to continue, but she only stands there silently, tail flicking. Cautiously, Adora says, “Catra, I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to do when you act like that, so I just... I guess I try to ignore it.”

“But why, Adora? Couldn’t you at least, I don’t know, try to comfort me?”

Adora frowns. “Why would you need comforting?”

Catra groans. “Because I’m scared, you idiot! And when I’m scared I... I lash out. It’s what I’ve always done and I’m getting better at not doing it but sometimes it catches me off guard and it’s like I’m back in the Fright Zone and everyone’s out to get me and-“

“Hey, hey...” Adora stands and lightly grips her shoulder. Catra sniffles. “Oh, Catra... I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize...”

“Don’t be, it’s fine.” Catra shakes Adora’s hand off and wipes at her tears. “Just... I’ll try to communicate better, can you at least act like you’re worried about me?”

Adora nods slowly. “I... I don’t know why I didn’t realize you were scared. When you get angry, I think that if I just ignore it you’ll go back to normal and everything will be fine. But then you don’t, and it doesn’t, and I don’t know how to handle that.” She shakes her head. “But I care about you so much... Why would I want to ignore you? Thinking about it, it doesn’t make any sense...” 

Catra shrugs. “Doesn’t make any sense to me either, so all I see is you acting like I don’t matter to you.” Adora’s face twists into something pitiful, and Catra sighs. “It’s fine, just... we’ll work on it. But you can’t just pretend our problems away, Adora.”

Adora steps towards her and offers her a hand. Catra considers it, then takes it in her own. “What can I do to make it easier for you?” asks Adora, lightly swinging their joined hands between them. 

Catra snorts. “Don’t be such an asshole, for one.”

Adora frowns. “Was I an asshole?” Catra stares at her. “... Really?” Catra nods very, very slowly. 

“‘You’re the one who got weird out of nowhere’,” she quotes past the tightness in her throat. 

“Oh,” says Adora. “Yikes.” 

“Yeah,” agrees Catra, leaning forward until their foreheads touch. “Yikes.” 

They stand there, eyes closed and holding hands until their breaths have slowed and synchronized. Catra shifts her weight. 

“Can we lay down? I want to cuddle...” she asks. 

“Yeah, of course.” Adora pulls back and smiles at her. She gets onto the bed and lays on her back, holding her arms open in invitation. Catra climbs over and collapses on top of her. Adora wraps her arms around her and rubs her back. A moment passes, and a purr starts up in Catra’s chest. 

“...Why were you upset, anyways?”

Catra tenses up. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Hey...” Adora moves her hand up to pet Catra’s hair. “I just want to understand you better.” 

Catra turns her face to the side, ears flicking flat against her head. “... Everyone here likes you so much. I don’t think I’ll ever be as welcome anywhere as you are everywhere you go.” 

“Mmmm.” Catra feels Adora’s chest vibrate under her cheek. “You know if anyone tries to start anything with you, I’ll just beat them up, right?”

“That’s not the point, Adora. Just... let it go for now, ok? Please?” Her tail flicks. 

Adora sighs, settling further into the mattress. “Alright.”

Slowly, methodically, Catra goes through her muscle groups and carefully relaxes them. In time, her breathing slows again, and their chests rise and fall in tandem. Adora resumes rubbing her back. 

Catra feels her stomach growl. 

“...You never ate anything, did you?” says Adora. 

“Nope,” Catra replies into her boobs. 

They lay in silence. 

“... Wanna go get a snack?”

Catra grumbles incoherently and latches all four of her limbs tighter onto Adora’s body. 

“I guess not.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is like... Catra and Adora beginning their journey on the path to healing. It’s an important first step. I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
